Petrobras to dump McLaren? (Update)
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| Petrobras is still on the new car |
UPDATE
This rumor is downgraded to 'false' today as the Grand Premio story out of Brazil is wrong. Petrobras is still prominently displayed on the 2019 McLaren launched today.02/13/19 According to Grand Premio in Brazil, the technical partnership agreement between Petrobras and McLaren will be terminated soon.
Thus, the expectation is that Petrobras will not even have its logo on the new McLaren car, the MCL34, which will be presented on Thursday (14) at 10am (WB) in Woking, headquarters of the team in England.
In a report published by the blog Olhar OlÃmpico, UOL, journalist Demetrio Vecchioli informs that the desire of the new Federal Government is that Petrobras stop investing in McLaren.
According to the report, the decision to withdraw the sponsorship from McLaren was made by the new president of the state company, Roberto Castello Branco. The amount invested per year is £10 million reports columnist Lauro Jardim.
Grand Premio contacted the Brazilian oil company and questioned whether or not it would maintain sponsorship with McLaren. The company confirmed the possible change of plans for the near future.
"Petrobras is reviewing its sponsorship policy and advertising planning in line with the company's new brand positioning, with a focus on science and technology and education, especially for children. The contracts currently in force (which is the case of the technological partnership with McLaren) are in full disbursement, "he said.
In the wake of that, the Grand Premio found that the agreement runs a "very serious risk" of ending before it even reached its goal announced a year ago when McLaren CEO Zak Brown announced the teaming of Petrobras with the British team.
"As part of the agreement, Petrobras, through its research center, will develop specially formulated gasoline and lubricants for the team to be used in the 2019 season. The company will have a laboratory in the McLaren garages during training and racing, allowing real-time analysis of fuel performance," Brown said at the time.